This is a response to the reviews. I emailed them to you, but in case there is something wrong with your email system, here they are.
animedragongirl- Take as long as you want to catch up, god only knows how long I took to review The Jak and Daxter Prank Wars. Not having time is perfectly understandable considering all the work you have, what with coming up with masterpieces and editing War of the Ancients. You're quite welcome for getting on my list of favorite fan fictions, but it is your own doing. Until your writing becomes horrible (impossible) or until someone else becomes funnier than you (equally impossible) you will remain there. I honestly stretched out the boat and desert scenes as long as I could. As for Hatu and Wartstal waking up randomly, they had been fighting for consciousness to let Jak and Keira know they were all right. Once they had managed that, they collapsed from a combination of exhaustion and partial and potential hypothermia. As to the Gale Canyon, I swear on the grave of my deceased grandfather that I did NOT take that from Harry Potter. When I drew up the total plot summary back in February, when Jak made it to the Gale canyon with his companion (I hadn't decided on the gender yet), they would be separated and Jak would have to sail across a lake full of dead people. Near the end, I need to insert three more Channelers, and since you and Red Mage 04 are my longest correspondents, I was wondering if you would like to be one. If not, then I'll probably just pick some random names from a hat. Your email was received, and you shall become a Converter. Your name will be Liz, as requested. All I need is a physical description of what you WANT to look like, not necessarily what you do look like.
Red Mage 04- I honestly don't care when you review it, the fact that two such esteemed writers read my drek gives me that warm fuzzy feeling inside. Sorry about the beginning, I had a bit of writers block and it was honestly the best I could come up with. I have no idea what a Sue is, unless you mean I inserted myself. I want to, except I can't, because I would want to be an Adaptor, and I can't do that. Yay! Fuzzy rodents dying a horrible and painful death! Sorry, I'm a little high off of sugar. Please get back to me on whether or not you would like to be inserted, and no, you will not die. At least not by the hands of another elf. Obviously aging and a certain invasion will probably kill your character off. Let me know what you think, and I do hope that you enjoy this next chapter.
Keeroshu- Yay! My original reviewer. I was afraid I had scared you off with my horrible writing skills. I don't care that you haven't reviewed me in a while now that your back. Its like seeing my friends again. Uh, the battles, I can't help but make them long. I have a thought that Jak is a fighter, and should act like one. As such, his confrontations are frequent and long. If it makes you feel any better, it won't always be him fighting. Yea, it is ironic that Jak has a communicator and can't talk. And why on earth would I give Daxter an easy time. You crazy. Lol. Let me know what the group fic, because I would love to read it. Thank you for giving me that shot of confidence; I still think I can do much better than this dribble. Glad to know you're coming back, I missed Colle and Jak. School. Boooooooooooooo!
Disclaimer: I do not own this franchise, just anything that my sick mind has cooked up in this horrible story.
Preparations
"Wow," Jak thought as he gazed at the city he had traveled through the Gale Canyon to see. He heard Daxter and Margaret each exhale a similar phrase of wonderment.
The City of the Sky was called such for a reason. The cit itself looked normal, with a multitude of normal sized houses and a few flashy and tall buildings here and there. What made it different from every other civilization Jak had seen so far was it was in the air. It was not connected to the ground in any way. The bottom of the town was covered in massive pieces of Precursor technology. Jak put his goggles down and zoomed in on the bottom.
With a grin, Jak imagined Keira's expression if she ever has to see those wondrous pieces of equipment.
A majority of the bottom of the city was covered in pieces of machinery that were pulsating slightly and giving off a faint blue glow. Jak assumed that it was an antigravitational form of energy. For the briefest second, Jak felt disappointed: he had always thought that Keira's A-Grav Zoomer was an original idea. It appeared that the Precursors had not only thought about making things go against gravity, but also making the objects considerably larger. The one feeling of disenchantment passed as Jak realized that Keira was making things almost on par with the Precursors. True, she had made an engine that simply spun a fan around so fast that it was able to support a one hundred and fifty pound piece of machinery and another hundred pounds, give or take fifteen due to weight.
Jak wondered how the elves that were the inhabitants of the city managed to keep maintenance on those pieces of apparatuses. There obviously was some kind of facility, but what kind. And more importantly, did those facilities give tours. Jak thought how Keira would react if he managed to get her inside one of those factories for a closer look at the levitation technology. Jak immediately made it his goal to give it a try, if it made Keira happy and didn't hurt her, he was happy with her doing it, and would be even happier if he knew that he was the one that had made her happy.
Jak wondered if it was his imagination, the fact that Gol was the Sage governing the city, a trick of the light, or merely the fact that night was fast approaching, but it appeared that a dark cloud hung over the town. Jak thought it might be the last; after all, September was halfway over. This was the time of the year when it started to get darker outside much earlier and quicker than it did in July and August. A small amount of apprehension caught up with Jak: they were now in Gol and Maia's territory. He would be very surprised if they did not know that he and his friends had made it to The City of the Sky. Jak fully expected to not be welcomed by the inhabitants or at least deal with a Lurker invasion when he was in the town. After all, he had been at attacked at almost every place he had gone to so far, so why should this one place be any different.
As Jak looked closer at the bottom of the technological wonder that was floating about five hundred feet in the air, he noticed that there were circles that were not glowing. He wondered if they were sections of the city that had become malfunctioned or damaged somehow, or whether the parts were being replaced or cleaned. As one of them began to glow a brilliant red, Jak quickly threw that fancy right out the window. He put his hands on his belt, ready to defend himself should the light prove to be some kind of defensive mechanism or the town (or Gol, as Jak thought much more likely) was attacking him.
A beam of yellow light shot right for them. Jak relaxed; he had seen Yellow Eco used enough by now to recognize it and regular light. He let the light hit him and Margaret and was surprised to feel his skin go cold as the light made contact with his body. His hair, his face, his entire body felt like it had been dunked in ice-cold water. He closed his eyes and shivered, hearing Daxter chatter his teeth together.
A sudden blast of hot air made him open his eyes again. E was surprised at the massive change of surroundings. He was now in a wooden room with ventilation shafts. Said shafts were blasting out hot air that felt very soothing to Jak's frigid skin.
"Sensation takes some getting used to, I'll give you that, but after a few times your used to it," a jovial voice said from behind him. Jak spun around and saw a large beefy face with a red, round face that was currently smiling. He gave a powerful impression of a Santa Claus in Jak's mind. Jak heard a body fall to the ground behind him and looked to see Margaret sitting on the ground, her body shivering. He looked at the man imploringly and pointed to her, but he just laughed again. Jak began to glare at him; his friend might be dying of hypothermia and this man was laughing.
As if he had read Jak's thoughts, the man spoke again. "Don't worry lad, she's not in any danger. All the teleportation does is freeze your skin, but her internal organs are as heated as ever. She'll warm up in no time, but it varies from person to person. Bring her to the Teleportation Recuperative Hospital if she's still cold by eight o'clock." Jak nodded, not really having any clue what was going on, and being helpless to ask. Fortunately, his diminutive friend asked the question for him.
"What in the name of all that is holy are you talking about?" This statement simply provoked a chuckle from the large man. His jolliness was beginning to irritate Jak, something that he would have never thought possible.
"Relax. Look, she's coming around now," he said as he pointed to her. Jak spun around and saw that the man was right, Margaret's body had stopped shivering and she was standing up. Jak held out his hand and she accepted it gratefully. As he helped her up, the man behind them grabbed two clipboards and handed them to each of them. Jak looked at it and saw he had to fill out a chart stating his name, age, where he was from, etc.
Jak thought quickly. Stating who he really was would be as good as a death sentence in this town, so he would have to lie. He quickly scrawled across the bottom, "I'm John and your Mary. Were friends from Rock Village and we decided to travel abroad." She nodded and filled out the corresponding information. As they finished, the two elves handed it back to the man, who took them cheerfully and scanned them into some kind of glass screen with writing on it.
"Okay, that'll do it. I have only three questions. Do you have a relative living here?" Jak shook his head no. "Have you ever been to another civilization?"
"Of course. We're not hermits," Margaret said, and understandable twitch of annoyance in her voice.
"All right. Do you agree to live and behave here as if you were living some where else?"
"Yes we do." Daxter interjected.
"All right then. Welcome to our fair City of the Sky!" The man boomed as he opened a door and pushed them into a throng of others.
Jak breathed deeply as they walked down the street. He wasn't quite used to the thin air up here and there was a noticeable difference. Jak saw that this town obviously lived off of economy, considering there were venders and stores everywhere. Staring around, Jak realized that he would need a place to stay if he didn't want to have Keira uncomfortable. He looked in at a modest looking hotel, thinking he might be able to get a room in exchange for doing some chores. As he walked through the doors, alarms suddenly went off and sirens started wailing. Jak immediately took a combat stance, ready for the unexpected.
Or so he thought.
Confetti started streaming down from the ceiling, thoroughly bewildering Jak. He looked around as party music started playing and a man in a fancy suit approached him.
"Congratulations my dear sir. By an enormous stroke of luck, you were the one-millionth person to walk in this year. As your prize, you win the Sixteen Number Combo."
Jak stared.
"What this means is you get any number of people in our best room for a certain amount of days; so long as the number of people other than you and number of days you all stay (when multiplied) equal sixteen." Jak and Margaret looked at each other before grinning simultaneously. Margaret spoke up.
"Can we have a room for four days?"
"Certainly, as long as a maximum of four people, other than this fine gentleman," here the man inclined his head to Jak, "accompany him."
"Hang on a second please." Margaret said politely before dragging Jak backwards.
"What do we do? How will we explain Wartstal and Hatu?" She whispered urgently. Jak simply shrugged- he hadn't thought of a way either. He suddenly was hit by a brainwave: they would simply let them in through the Warp Gate at night. He smiled and nodded at Margaret. She took this as he had a plan. She turned around with a smile and told the man that that would be their arrangement and that the others would be arriving later that day by Warp Gate.
"Do you have a Warp Gate in the hotel?"
"Yes we do, but we are not allowed to activate it, by order of Master Akaron." Jak and Margaret looked at each other grimly, knowing that their suspicions were correct. Gol knew they were either coming, or he knew that they were here. Jak and Margaret went up to their room. Apprehensive though he was at the current situation, Jak could appreciate the beauty of the room.
A kitchen was the first thing that greeted them. Connected to the kitchen was a bathroom with a door and an open large room. Jak assumed this was the living room as he walked into it and looked at the fine rug on the ground and the comfortable looking furniture. Three bedrooms were attached to the living room, all of which had a bed for two that could be separated into two twin beds and a private bathroom complete with a shower and sink. Jak laid down on the bed with a sigh of relief. They would have to find another way to transport Keira, Hatu and Wartstal, but until then Jak intended to clean himself up. Before he went into the shower of the room he decided would be his, Daxter commented on how the bed looked like it was made for just him and Keira. Jak turned red as Daxter thought (quite loudly) at whether or not Keira would mind sharing a bed with Jak. Margaret gasped at Daxter's perverseness and smacked him. Jak simply continued to turn red as he thought of sleeping in the same bed with Keira. The thought of the two of them being together for hours on end seemed quite appealing, but it wouldn't be appropriate for him and Keira to sleep next to each other, since they were different genders.
Daxter pried himself off of the wall and speculated aloud whether Jak and Keira would get any sleep if they slept together, or whether the other people of the hotel would either. This comment only provoked more of Margaret's indignant anger, and he once again found himself smacking into a wall. This statement only caused confusion in Jak's mind. He wondered what he and Keira could do together that would keep them and everyone else awake. He shook his head at Daxter as he went into the shower. Halfway through scrubbing he heard a smack, followed by some vibrations that made him look outside. Daxter was lying in the bed, sleeping. Jak put on a pair of pants along with a shirt, thinking he had merely imagined the sound. That notion was quickly dismissed when he heard a girl scream. He ran towards the scream coming from Margaret's room and saw her on a chair. Below her was a wild Kanga-Rat. Jak began to shake with laughter as he watched her panic and scream again as the harmless rodent scurried around the room. Jak scooped it up and walked over to a window. He looked down and dropped the Kanga-Rat, knowing that it would land on a large pile of clothing. He shook his head as he turned around and looked at Margaret, astonished that she could be so afraid of such a small, not to mention completely harmless, creature.
"Don't say it Jak," Margaret warned. "Don't even think it." Jak gave her an innocent look before his face split into an evil grin. Margaret groaned, knowing she hadn't heard the last of this incident.
"My Master, Jak and his company have reached your fair city," Benedict said as he bowed before Gol.
"I see he has brought an Amplifier with him," Gol mused to himself. "Very well Torqueo. You may go."
"Yes, my Master," Torqueo said as he rose from his bow, never raising his eyes and exiting the room. Maia walked in and Torqueo sank into another low bow. Maia simply told him to rise and be on his way. As Torqueo quickly left the room, Maia closed the door and looked at her older brother.
"Jak has brought an Amplifier with him," she said without as much as a word of preliminaries.
"I am well aware of this fact," Gol replied smoothly.
"Can she be turned?"
"Perhaps. The lure of the power that we have will be a powerful key in seducing her into our ways," Gol responded. He fell silent, thinking of arguments he could use to turn the new Channeler into another apprentice.
"With an Adaptor and an Amplifier, our forces would be hard to defeat," Maia said.
"You are right, dear sister. I think I shall pay our new friend a visit soon," Gol said as he smiled. To any onlooker, it was a smile that was devoid of any kindness.
"Yes, our new friend will be within our power very soon," Gol cackled as he walked over to a screen. The face of the usher that had welcomed Jak appeared on it. The man immediately sank into bow.
"You can dispense with the pleasantries. I need to know if a man a woman and an n orange rodent entered your hotel today."
"They did indeed, Lord Akaron. Shall I have them removed?"
"No. Have they requested to use the Warp Gate?"
"As a matter of fact, they have."
"Let them."
"Yes my Lord," the man said before bowing and going to inform Jak that he was allowed to use the Warp Gate.
"Brother, why did you so that?" Maia asked, a small amount of confusion present in her voice.
"Simple. I want Jak and his companions' moral to be at their highest before I crush them. They deserve to suffer for not embracing the darkness within." Gol said as an insane smile made its way onto his face.
"Excuse me sir?" the usher called as he knocked on the door of Jak's suite. Jak opened the door and stood aside, indicating that the man was welcome to come in. "No thank you. I do not wish to disturb you, but Lord Akaron has just informed me that you are allowed exclusive use of the Warp Gate." Jak's eyes widened in disbelief and his jaw dropped.
"Lord… Akaron said this?" Margaret asked feebly, knowing enough to feign respect for the insane man that ran this town.
"Yes indeed ma'am. He said that only you could do it."
"This is… such an unexpected… honor," Margaret said as she smiled and thanked the man. After he left she dragged Jak inside and closed the door.
"What does he mean by this? He knows we are working to destabilize him." Margaret said. Jak agreed that this was a suspicious move on Gol's part, but they had to take advantage of it. If he could just get Keira, Hatu and Wartstal through the Warp Gate, they would have a decent chance of victory. Jak weighed the chances of this being a trap against the odds of what his chances were without his friends.
The risk of being separated was too great. Jak would have no choice but to try to link up with Keira. He went downstairs and saw that the room with the Warp Gate was deserted. Far from alleviating Jak's apprehension, all it did was make him feel more nervous. Jak ran to the Warp Gate and activated it. He dived through., expecting the worst.
To his surprise, Jak landed in Potentia's hut. He looked around for Keira's room. He spotted it and knocked urgently. Keira emerged, looking surprised to see Jak.
"Jak! What are you doin' here?" She asked. Jak shook his head before running to his room and throwing some clothes into his backpack. He pointed to Keira, who understood that he was trying to tell her to get ready as soon as possible.
"Gimme two minutes Jak," Keira called as she began packing.
After getting Hatu and Wartstal, Jak looked in on Keira, who had a backpack slung over her head and was carrying a box of something. Jak took the box out of her hands, not roughly, and motioned for her to go through the Warp Gate. Hatu and Wartstal followed her and Jak went through last. He hastily set the box down and shut down the Warp Gate. Jak hurried everyone to their room, and only when they were safely behind the door and out of view did he let out a sigh of relief.
"Jeez Jak, what was the big hurry?" Keira asked as she took her backpack off.
"He was rushing you guys because Gol was the one who gave us permission to let you guys through," Margaret said as she emerged from her room.
"Gol!" Keira exclaimed.
"Our sentiments exactly," Margaret said dryly.
"Why would he do such a thing? He knows that we are a powerful group." Keira wondered aloud.
"I don't know," Margaret said.
"I think I do," Wartstal said quietly. Nevertheless, he may as well have shouted it, since everyone turned to look at him and order him with their eyes to explain.
"It's simple. Gol is too proud of his power to even consider the possibility that we might win. My guess is that he wants your morale and emotions to be at their highest before he decimates us. Is an emotional tactic. Get the enemy's morale up as high as you can before crushing them and the emotional blow you deal them will be much worse." Jak nodded at Wartstal's explanation; it made sense. A loud grumbling suddenly caused the grim mood to quickly dissipate. The group looked around for the source of the sound before their eyes settled on Daxter.
"What? I'm hungry." The entire group laughed.
"I thin that's the cue to eat," Hatu chortled as he walked into the kitchen and pulled out some food. The group enjoyed heated up mashed potatoes and warmed Yakow. They discussed how long they should wait before assaulting the Citadel, and how exactly they should do such a thing.
"I say we wait the four days we have in this hotel," Wartstal said as he helped himself to some more mashed potatoes. "I figure that we deserve tomorrow off. The day after that, we should probably try to see of anyone would like to help us fight Gol. Convincing them will probably take another day in itself. The fourth day we should spend stocking up on supplies and such. And then we attack on the fifth day."
"Good idea brother," Hatu said. The others gave a general murmur of agreement. Jak yawned and stretched. He waved goodnight to everyone before snatching Daxter by the tail as the said rodent tried to sneak into Keira and Margaret's room.
Jak woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. He went into the shower and turned on the hot water. He took his clothes of and stepped into the shower. As the hot water hit his skin, Jak hissed. The heat felt very welcoming to his tired and stiff muscles. After a good five minutes, Jak felt as good as new. He stepped out of the shower and put on a simple outfit: tan shorts and a bright yellow shirt that was slightly small on him, but still fit. As he walked into the kitchen, Jak decided it would be nice if he made breakfast for everyone else as well. Jak put a pan on the stove and turned it one. As he beat the sixteen eggs for scrambled eggs, Jak debated on bringing Keira (and everyone else) breakfast while they were in bed. He quickly decided against it, deciding that doing so would make it obvious to all that he had deep feelings for Keira. As he put the eggs in the pan, Jak began cutting up fruit. He finished slicing just as the eggs were done.
After putting the eggs in a bowl and covering them to keep them warm, Jak went to go wake everyone up. It appeared he didn't have to, however. Daxter, Hatu, Wartstal and Margaret came out of their rooms sniffing the air. As they sat down, Jak realized Keira wasn't present. Trying not to appear as if he was bursting with curiosity, Jak tapped Margaret on the shoulder and pointed to Keira's empty seat. After swallowing her mouthful of egg, Margaret answered him.
"She's still sleeping. She told me to leave her alone when I tried to wake her up before. You should get her before there's no food left." Jak nodded and walked over to Keira's room. He knocked on the door and walked in when there was no response. Keira's bed was empty, but there was the sound of water running from the bathroom. The door opened and Keira strode out in her sleeping clothes.
Jak stopped and stared, quite openly, at Keira's choice of attire as she did the same to him. Jak could not help It, even though she was only wearing a tee shirt and a pair of white baggy shorts, she made it look so… alluring. Her creamy legs were exposed up to about three inches above her knee. Jak could see the smooth hairless skin with hard muscle underneath. The arms were soft as well, with no hair on it. Jak stood still as his eyes devoured her form, going from her arms back to her legs before settling on her face. That adorable, heart-shaped cherub face. Jak loved every inch of it, her full lips, rosy cheeks, the two locks of hair that circled the outer rim of her face, the ears that poked out just right from her face, all of it. Lastly, Jak looked at her eyes and once again felt himself get lost in those green pools. As she blinked, Jak inwardly groaned at the loss of her beautiful eyes, and rejoiced when she opened them again.
Keira gulped as her eyes took on a life of their own as they looked up and down the form of Jak. His legs, toned and smooth, yet having the muscle definition stand out, drew her gaze first. He had just the smallest amount of hair on them, a sign that his body was beginning to change into an adults. As she looked up, she saw that the shirt he was wearing was very snug, meaning she got a free look at his smooth chest. He was for the most part very lean, but his chest showed that he was not weak. Even through his shirt, Keira could tell it was hard as a rock. His arms looked harmless, but Keira could see the hard muscle on his arm. As she looked up and down his athletic form, she could not detect a trace of undesirable fat. His boyish face still had some baby fat, but in Keira's opinion that just made Jak look even better. His normally white skin was now tan with all the sun he had been exposed to the sun. As she looked at his lips, Keira licked her own. She looked at his eyes at the same instant he looked into hers. She gazed deeply into his azure gaze as he stared into hers.
Both elves turned red as they slowly walked towards each other, a mutual understanding of what they were going to do being sent through the air. Jak looked down at Keira, affection apparent in every one of his features. Keira looked at Jak with fondness practically radiating off her body. Jak lowered his mouth just as Keira stood up on her tiptoes and brought her lips up.
"Hey guys, come in before the food disappears. We're trying to stop Daxter from taking it all before you…" Margaret's voice trailed off as she looked in on the scene. Jak and Keira were separated from each other, their faces redder than tomatoes and both staring at the ground. Margaret realized what she had just interrupted and feebly backed out of the room, muttering an apology. Jak and Keira looked at each other and came to an agreement that the mood that had just possessed them once more was gone. Without a word, Keira followed Jak back to the table. They said nothing and didn't look up as they ate, albeit halfheartedly.
After breakfast, Margaret said she was going to go up on the roof to train. Keira said that she and Jak had agreed that they would go into town and see if they could pass the Staff of Spirits into the hands of a charity. After throwing Jak a look, Keira looked over at Margaret as she said this, knowing how important the staff was to her, but Margaret merely shrugged and said that the legend about a man with strong spiritual powers unlocking the Staff's potential was probably just that- a legend.
"You should sell it: it would be good to have a little more than the bare minimum of a stash of Precursor Orbs." Jak nodded as Keira gave a verbal affirmation.
"I guess we'll stay here and make sure no one breaks in," Hatu said as he stretched out on the couch.
Jak grabbed the Staff of Spirits and allowed Daxter to get on his shoulder before he met up with Keira at the door.
"Wow Jak. Usually the guys waits for the girl to show up," Keira teased good-naturedly. Jak stuck his tongue out at her and the two of them enjoyed making faces at each other the entire time they walked through the hotel, stopping when Jak held the door open for Keira as she walked with the Staff outside into The City of the Sky.
Margaret took what the man behind the desk called an "elevator." It was a wooden crate with buttons. When she pushed the one entitled roof, the entire contraption began moving up. When it finally stopped and the twin doors opened, Margaret threw herself through, eager to get out of the strange box. She watched as the "elevator" sank back into the ground, leaving a wooden square over the hole it had made.
Margaret shook her head to get the hair out of her face before stretching her limbs. Previous training sessions had taught her the hard way that working out without stretching was asking to sprain a muscle. She surrounded her hands with Yellow Eco and began sparring with imaginary opponents, getting used to not bringing her hands too close to her body.
Jak and Keira walked down the streets with Daxter perched on Jak's shoulder. He had first tried to sit on Keira and stare at certain parts of her body but a quick smack from her and a warning glance had made him move to the shoulder that was further away from Keira.
"Wow. I have never seen this much crap in one place since that time the traveling caravan from the south came to visit." Jak smirked; leave it to Daxter to word it so eloquently. As they paused at some stalls that had been set up, Jak looked around for a gift for Daxter. His birthday was next month, and Jak didn't want the poor guy to get nothing for his birthday. It was bad enough that he had to spend it as a rat, unless by some miracle Gol was turned back to normal and agreed to fix Daxter's problem.
Keira shared along Jak's line of thinking. She was trying to find something for her friend. No matter how perverted he got, how much he pissed her off, how much he insinuated that she should get with him over Jak, Daxter had always been there for her. She mentally rolled her eyes at a thought of what Daxter really wanted but she couldn't give him that. She wanted to give her first kiss to Jak.
Jak saw an ornament of a fairly attractive female elf in a skirt and top made out f grass that danced as it moved. Figuring his friend would get a kick out of it, Jak held it up so the man running the store could tell him how much it was. As the man opened his mouth to tell Jak the price, a scream drowned out his voice. Jak looked to his left to see Keira struggling with a large man that was attempting to take the Staff of Spirits from her. As Jak struggled through the throng that had mysteriously appeared, the man yelled for Keira to get off and he picked her up before throwing her into the surrounding crowd. Jak felt relief: Keira was safe now. He muscled his way through and walked up to the man.
"If you wanna keep all your limbs, you best back off boy." the man snarled. Jak glared back as he took a step forward. The man swung the Staff at Jak, who ducked. As the man brought the Staff over his head, Jak lunged forward and socked him right in the nose. As the man went reeling back, Jak kicked him in the chest.
Jak turned around to see how Keira was doing and panicked when he saw her being grabbed by a man. His fear that they were going to hurt her were quickly proven wrong, as the man holding her was merely holding her. Jak relaxed as he saw the man lower her unconscious form to the ground. He paid dearly for this distraction with a punch in the jaw. As Jak took a step back from the blow, the man reeled back and Jak knew he was going to be hit again. Unfortunately, he was dizzy from the initial blow and was unable to do anything to prevent it.
The blow never came.
Jak opened his eyes and saw that his adversary had a two-foot sword sticking out of his chest. Blood was pouring down his chest and the sword. Jak looked with revulsion as the man's heart- still beating- fell from the tip of the blade and hit the floor with a sickening smack. Jak watched the sword get pulled out and his eyes widened in horror as the owner of the blade, a Lurker Troll, licked the blood. Two more appeared and began to terrorize the village. People began running around screaming. Jak ducked as a blow came in that would have separated his head from his shoulders. He lunged forward and landed on the Troll's head. He turned on his Red Eco Box and…
… Realized that he had left it at the hotel. Jak was swatted off the head and slammed into a wall. He struggled to his feet and bared his teeth at his foes.
"Back demons!" A man shouted as he slammed a staff into the Troll's face. Surprisingly, the Troll let out a wail as the staff smashed his skull in. The man wielding it looked equally surprised at the efficiency of the staff. As another Troll charged the man spun around and slashed. The rod sliced right through the Troll's body, causing an almost comical affect as the body slid down the cut and crumpled to the floor. As the final one went in, Jak watched in astonishment as the man jabbed the flat end of the staff into the chest of the Troll and it simply went right through one end and out the other. The man shook the staff to get the blood off and walked over to Jak.
"I believe this is yours," the man said. Jak looked closer at the Staff: it was indeed the Staff of Spirits. It had changed beyond recognition. The gold had melted away to reveal an artifact made of Precursor metal. There were patterns on it like everything else the Precursors made, and like the ones one the bomb Jak had held on Misty Island about four months ago, they were glowing. Unlike when Jak touched the bomb, the colors were mixing from red, to green, then blue, purple and yellow, white and then back to red. Jak was puzzled slightly at the white part; what on Weyard was that supposed to mean?
"Sir? Is this yours?" the man asked again. Jak took a look at the man. He was taller than Jak by an inch or so, with a light complexion and purple eyes. Unlike Dark Eco, his eyes were full of warmth and kindness. He had spiky black hair that stuck straight up, but it was nowhere near as long as Jak's. In the back he had a small ponytail. Jak held up a finger indicating for the man to wait a moment. He ran over to Keira and roused her. As she surveyed the destruction, she looked at Jak.
"Did you do this?" Jak shook his head and pointed to the man. "He did this?" Keira whispered. Jak nodded as they walked over to him.
"Thanks, er…"
"My name is Kumiro," the man said. Jak took the staff back out of the Kumiro's hand and immediately the staff went dead. Jak handed it back to Kumiro and immediately it lit up again. Jak let go of the staff and backed off, saying the staff was now his.
"Oh no, I couldn't accept this."
"Did you save Jak from the Trolls?" Keira asked.
"Well, in a manner of speaking, but-"
"Did you kill the Trolls?"
"Yes but-"
"Did you save the town."
"I drove off the Trolls, but that's hardly the -"
"Then the staff is yours." Keira said with an air of finality. Kumiro opened his mouth to protest, but Keira stared him down.
A sudden blast caught everyone's attention. Jak saw, with a feeling of foreboding, that it was coming from the hotel where they were staying. Keira said good-bye quickly before joining Jak in an attempt to get there. Kumiro hesitated for a second, but eventually joined them, wondering if there was trouble, and hoping he would be able to help if there was.
"Damn!" Margaret said aloud as she tried to form her Yellow Eco into a sword as she had seen Jak do so often. "I just can't get the hang of it! How can I learn how to make an Eco Blade?"
"Well that is simple. I could teach you abilities and powers the likes of which you have never seen before." A raspy voice said. Margaret instantly spun around and summoned two balls of Yellow Eco. When she saw that it was Gol Akaron (Keira had described him in detail) she increased the size of the balls. Gol raised his hand. "I have no wish to have to destroy you, Benedict. I have come here just to talk." Margaret did not lower her hands, but instead pointed them at Gol's chest, directly where his heart should be.
"What on Weyard makes you think I don't have a heart?" Gol asked in a mocking voice.
"You've tried to kill my friends more than a few times, for starters." Margaret snarled. Gol chuckled in response.
"I have not. Maia and Gravis could snuff out your lives in an instant if they really chose to. I have came here to propose to you. Let me teach you how to Channel. With powers like mine, think of all you could do."
"Why should I trust you?"
"Because I would not lie to you."
"Yes you would, you evil creature."
"Good is a point of view, Margaret." A small of her grudgingly admitted that there was some truth to this statement. "Maia, Gravis, Torqueo and I believe in security and justice also, yet we are considered by you and your friends to be…" Gol left the sentence unfinished and looked at Margaret as if to say finish it.
"… evil." Margaret said.
"… From your point of view. We Dark Lords and the Sages are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power. The difference between the two is we are not afraid of using emotions as weapons. That is why we are more powerful." Gol said triumphantly.
"You bastards think inward, only about yourselves." Gol raised his eyebrows again.
"And Jak, Wartstal, Keira and Hatu don't?"
"Our quest is selfless… we only care about others." Margaret responded, still wary of a trick. Gol smiled at this statement, almost as if everything in the conversation was going his way.
"Or so you've been trained to believe." Margaret wondered briefly what that meant. "Did you ever hear the tragedy of Plagueis 'the wise'?"
"No." Margaret said hesitantly.
"I thought not. It's not a story your friends would tell you. It's a Dark Sage legend. Plagueis, my master, was a Sage of Dark Eco, so powerful and so wise he could use his power to manipulate Dark Eco to create… life. And that wasn't all. He could even keep the ones he cared about from dying."
"He could actually save people from death?" Margaret asked wondrously, for to stop death was a power to boast of indeed.
"Yes. And what motivated him? Fear. Fear of being alone when his sister. Think. If you became my student, you would gain this power. And then you and your boyfriend could live together happily for all eternity." Margaret closed her eyes, trying not to believe him. Try though she did, a small part of her wanted to follow Gol and his promises. Then the image of George surfaced in her mind and she imagined the look on his face if he ever learned of the terrible things she would do.
"No. I won't fall for your tricks Gol. You won't convert me as you did my brother! And I will stop you. Together me and Jak and everyone else will stop you, and we'll pull my brother back from your grip." Gol's eyes narrowed as she let out a blast of Yellow Eco.
As the dust cleared, Margaret stepped back as she saw Gol undamaged. As Gol glared at her, rain clouds began to gather and it began to rain. Gol summoned and Dark Eco Blade and began fighting her. Margaret blocked each of his strikes by coating her hands with Green Eco.
As the fight wore on, images of all that Gol had done played over in Margaret's mind, feeding her anger. She became stronger as her anger spiked and pushed Gol back. Gol smirked as he saw yellow begin to bleed into the irises of her eyes. She distracted him by shooting a beam of Eco into his chest. As he went back, Margaret slowly advanced on him. She glared as she began to blow him away, but a glow on the ground caught her eye. She looked down and was shocked to see her eyes matched Gol's; yellow and black, full of hatred and anger. She sank to her knees, all her emotions turning to despair.
"Am I fated to follow my brother?" she wondered. "No. No! I will not give into this. I will not fight in hatred anymore." She thought as she opened her eyes, dreading what she would see. To her relief, her green eyes were back. Gol roared in anger; his mind trick had not worked and now she would never serve him.
"You could have beaten me," he hissed as he charged a ball of Dark Eco, "but you did not because you are weak. I could have taught you strength. You will not kill me because you fear your destiny. You fear your own power. How ridiculous." Gol finished this statement by blasting Margaret off the roof. She impacted the ground and Gol floated down to her. As he raised his hand to perform the killing blow, a foot planted itself in his back. He spun around and saw Jak glaring at him.
"Fine. Take your girl. She is weak anyhow. When the Silos are opened, I shall fashion a new empire… And take your girl as my Queen," Gol said as his eyes lit up psychotically and focused on Keira, who shuddered. All at once she remembered the feel of his foul hands on her neck and stomach from nearly three and a half months ago.
"Goodbye Jak. I hope to see you soon. I hope for your sake you don't disappoint me." Gol taunted before disappearing with a whip-like crack.
"Was that Master Akaron?" Kumiro asked in disbelief. Jak and Keira looked at each other as Jak hoisted Margaret onto his shoulder. They nodded and agreed to tell Kumiro everything.
Three hours later, one would find Kumiro sitting back on the couch, his face that one of utter disbelief. "I can't believe aster Akaron would do such things. And yet, somehow I know you are all telling the truth." He said weakly. He suddenly stood up.
"Excuse me, but I need time. Time to think what my next move will be. Thank you for the hospitality." Kumiro said as he exited. Jak and Keira looked at each other and sighed. They had been hoping that telling Kumiro everything would help him to go to their side. Jak gave Keira a quick kiss on the forehead before properly thinking about it and went into his room. Ashe collapsed and fell asleep, he wondered about the familiar feeling of darkness he had felt earlier. It had felt just like when Benedict had converted, but then it had faded.
Keira was stunned on the couch. Jak had… kissed her. She began to let out a whoop of glee but caught herself. One reason was she did not want to wake everyone up. The other was she didn't want Jak to think she was angry. All night she re-played the scenario in her mind, as did Jak.
When Jak woke he found a note from Keira explaining that she had gone to a Precursor Artifact Analyzing Facility. Apparently she had taken the gloves with her and was trying to figure out what their properties were.
A knock on the door caused Jak to become wary. He didn't know who might be calling at this hour, and there was every possibility that whoever it was might be hostile. As he opened the door slowly, Jak relaxed. Kumiro came in.
"I've spent some time thinking about it and I have decided. I would like to join you on the assault on Gol's Citadel." Jak smiled; he had been hoping for this. "I see what Gol is trying to do, and I cannot allow him to do it. Though I may be cast out of my home for defying the Sage, so be it. At least my conscience will be clear." Jak smiled warmly at Kumiro and shook his hand welcoming him to the team.
After Kumiro left, Jak enjoyed a sparring session with Margaret for two hours before she left to stock up on supplies. Now that they had such a powerful ally, the group had decided that they would attack tomorrow.
Later that night, Keira came back. She looked utterly exhausted; there were dark circles around her eyes and she wobbled slightly when she walked. As she sat down, she took the gloves out of a metal case.
"I got the case for free. Who am I to turn down free metal?" Keira asked with a flicker of a smile. Jak beamed back at her as he pulled the gloves on. "Okay Jak. On both of them, you se that button like thing in the center of the palm?" Jak inspected his glove and nodded. "Okay, point the glove at the wall and hit that button with your middle and ring fingers." Jak did as he was told and instantly a small cord shot out from under the palm, on the underside of the wrist. As it sped toward the wall, the tip expanded to show four metal points that dug into the wall. Instantly the cord reeled in and became tight.
"That's your new grappling hook. There's one on each glove, so that'll make moving around easier. To reel yourself in or bring whatever you latched yourself to back to you, hit the button the same way. To make the hook come out and come back without dragging you or anyone else around, just hit the tips of your middle and ring fingers with your thumb." Jak did the latter instruction and the cord popped out of the wall and flew back into his wrist.
"The right hand is an Eco magnet. There's something inside that will draw Eco to it when the hand is opened. If you bend your left hand down, then a small saw will come out." Jak did so, but nothing happened. "You have to make a fist." Jak clenched his hand and a small buzz saw in the shape of an oval protruded about six inches out. He flicked his wrist and the saw retracted.
"This last feature is the second most useful I think. Touch all your fingertips together and watch what happens." Jak touched the opposite fingertips and they began to glow red. "Now stick them to anything and you'll stick. This'll make climbing walls a snap." Jak flexed the fingers on the gloves and stuck the fingertips back together, deactivating the adhesive function. He put the gloves alongside his armor and backpack he had stuffed full of dried fruits and nuts and water. He smiled at Keira before embracing her. Keira hugged him back fiercely, scared that after tonight she might never see her again.
"You be careful tomorrow Jak," she whispered. Jak broke away from her and spread his arms as if to say, this is me we're talking about. Keira chuckled as she gave him one last hug before going into her room and getting some well-deserved sleep.
Jak, on the other hand, was wide-awake. He knew he had to sleep, for tomorrow would demand every ounce of cunning he possessed. He finally fell asleep three hours later.
Surprisingly, Jak woke up feeling refreshed. He got out of bed quietly so as not to disturb Daxter: he didn't want his friend to come. Daxter had risked life and limb to keep him company on this trip and Jak would be damned if he brought Daxter to Gol's Citadel. He suited up before picking up his backpack. He walked out of the hotel and made his way to the edge of The City of the Sky. He jumped off and waited for the ground to get close before activating his Blue Eco Box and zooming along in the sky. He dropped down to the ground and kept in the shadows as he approached the Citadel. As he ran out of Eco, Jak took off his Eco Box Belt and put on the new one that held double the Eco.
"Jeez! I can't breathe in here!" Daxter's shrill voice rang out. Jak started: how had Daxter entered his backpack without him seeing. More importantly, how had he remained in there without drawing Jak's attention. Staying silent was definitely not one of Daxter's strong suits. An odd buzzing sound filled the air as Jak glared at Daxter. Suddenly, Keira appeared out of a red bubble and fell to the ground. Jak was stunned. He had planned to come alone and now his two best friends had somehow followed him.
"Hey man, there was no way I was going to let you enter that place without me. You wouldn't last a second." Daxter said in response to Jak's glare.
"Daxter's right. For once." Keira added.
"Yea. Hey!"
"We're a team Jak. Me and Daxter are coming along. Whether you like it or not." Keira said, putting her hands on her hips. Jak stared at her hands: she was wearing two odd gloves.
"I'll tell you about them later Jak. After we rescue my Dad." Jak sighed, knowing he had lost the battle. But then again, maybe it was for the better.
"Escuro… Do you feel it?" A calm voice asked.
"Yes Master," the demon replied.
"The war has begun," a third voice added.
"Yes. We must move in order to preserve the balance…" a fourth voice said as a group began moving to the north, always staying in shadow… never letting their faces be shown.
Jak looked at Gol's Citadel, a place literally brimming with evil. The entire place was a large tower, twisted, and deformed, with spikes sticking out everywhere. Just like the man inside. Jak sighed again as he turned to face it, knowing that in there he would be pushed to beyond his limits. In there he would face Gol at the peak of his power. In there Samos and the other Sages waited for him to battle his way to them. Jak knew what this mission would involve. He would have to fight through half the Lurker army and then face Gravis, Benedict, Maia, and Gol. All in a row.
But at least he wouldn't be alone.
Sorry for updating so late. I actually typed this on Thursday and was excited because I thought I would be able to update a day early. So I saved (numerous times) and safely shut my computer down. I load it back up and get a message that my computer cannot load because it is missing a file. So I run the recovery program option that said I would not lose any data I have saved. It basically said in techno language that it would look through everything I had and would delete anything corrupted. So it appears that Microsoft Words is corrupt, because it was gone. So now you know. Sorry again for this being so late, and if anyone has a suggestion for the Citadel such as a booby trap or an enemy or an obstacle, please let me know. I would also like to apologize for the clichéd prize at the hotel, but I couldn't think of anything else. Also, I would like to know if I somehow pulled the emotions and such off correctly. I probably didn't. Ah, well. Please review, and to those of you who don't, I pray I haven't caused you serious brain damage. Fair to moderate brain damage is expected and can be remedied with intense psychotherapy. Just e-mail me the bill. See you all on Saturday.
My Top Five Favorite Fanfictions. (They are listed alphabetically, not by preference.)
1. Risen Demon by Red Mage 04
2. Surge by Amathist Fwirrel
3. The Jak and Daxter Prank War by animedragongirl
4. The Sage's Legacy by Light-Eco-Sage
5. War of the Ancients by Red Mage 04
Quote of the week- Winston Churchill
(After World War II, Winston Churchill goes to a party and gets very drunk. A woman walks up to him.)
Woman: My dear Churchill, you are drunk.
Winston: My dear lady, you are ugly. And when we wake up in the morning I will be sober.